Blues Brothers
by Dogmatix
Summary: What if Loki wasn't the only baby Odin had taken?
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I've never actually seen Blues Brothers, but I kinda suck at titles, so it'll have to do. ^^;

Chapter 1

Outside their dim cave the wind howled, ice and snow blotting out the broken landscape of Jotunheim. Sif, Hogun and Volstagg tended to Fandral's horrendous wound, though it was Loki's meager healing magicks that had truly saved the warrior's life. Tucked away further into the cave, around a bend and safely away from even friendly eyes, Loki now tended to his brother.

Thor sat, mouth a flat, grim line, as Loki tended his sprained wrist. His brother's magic whispered through bruised flesh, cool and soothing, but he paid it no mind. How could he, when there were so many worse things to think about than a mere sprained wrist.

Monster. The thought beat in his head, growing louder and louder. Monster. Monster. "Monster."

Loki flinched, froze, head still bowed over Thor's wrist.

"I'm a-" Thor managed through gritted teeth. "I'm-"

"Thor. Stop." Loki's voice was harsh.

"Remove the illusion."

"Brother-"

"Remove it!" Thor growled as loudly as he dared.

The line of Loki's shoulders was rigid, his head still bowed. But then he looked up, and waved one hand in a short arc. Light danced off Thor, revealing blue-gray skin covered with smoothly curving scar-like ridges, and eyes red as blood.

"I am a Jotun," Thor said, voice thick with revulsion.

Thor turned his hands over, inspecting them. "I am a monster." Then he curled his hands into fists, and Loki's eyes narrowed. He knew that tone of voice; Thor was about to do something foolish.

Thor's hand shot out, grabbing Mjolnir's handle. Loki seized his wrist, pinching and twisting the sprained area, making Thor's hand spam open. "What are you doing?" Loki asked, deceptively calm.

Violence lurked in Thor's eyes, and anyone else would have been thrown across the cave. "A monster cannot hold the throne of Asgard, I'll not allow it."

"Killing yourself will not solve the problem!" Loki hissed, his fury a cold, empty space in his chest.

"How not?" Thor demanded, "Say I was killed by a Jotun, ascend the throne yourself, and rule Asgard as the wisest king the land has ever known."

Clearly his brother knew not how to tempt him. Loki laughed, a harsh sound. "And you say you would have no monster on the throne."

"You are no monster-"

"I am a Jotun too!" Loki forced the words out, anguished.

Shocked silence lay between them, Loki almost as surprised at his admission as Thor.

"No."

"Yes," Loki admitted, tears filling his downcast eyes against his every attempt at control.

"How long have you known?" Thor asked weakly.

"Since the battle. A Jotun gripped my arm during the it, and," his voice failed, air sucked from his lungs, "my arm became as a Jotun's arm."

"Another illusion, then?" Thor asked, and Loki resisted the urge to turn his face from probing eyes.

"No, there is no illusion upon me. The Jotun released me when I killed it and, and my arm returned to normal."

"Could it be some Jotun curse placed upon us?" Thor asked, and Loki hated to crush the hope in pleading red eyes.

"No," Loki admitted reluctantly, "they had only ice magicks. I would have felt any other." It was so damnably true, too. Loki had been horrified when his arm changed, but he'd still desperately hoped that there was some other explanation. When he'd seen Thor at the Bifrost site, pinned under the monstrous, bestial Jotun, blue leeching into Thor's shocked features, he'd almost broken down himself. Only imminent death had forced him to ignore everything except getting them out of there, away from the descending horde of Jotuns. And through it all, the Bifrost had stayed mutely, damnably closed.

Thor's shoulder's bowed for a moment, then straightened. "How is it that you are once more Aesir and I am not?" Thor asked, anger returning, accusation barely hidden.

"I cannot give you answers I do not have," Loki admitted.

Thor's half-disbelieving look was too much, and Loki felt something rebel inside him.

"You think I planned this? You think this some game of mine?" Loki hissed furiously, leaning into Thor's space. "That I know anything about this, this, _travesty_? You think I had the least inkling, the _slightest idea_ that Odin had taken two Jotuns as his sole heirs?"

There, let Thor have an equal share in in the burden of what Loki had already deduced. Inches from Thor's changed visage, Loki met his Jotun brother's stare, heedless of the tear tracking down his cheek.

Thor rocked back, eyes widening as he took in Loki's meaning. "His sole- his sole heirs."

"I would guess that either Father or Mother is incapable of producing children. More probably Father," Loki said bitterly. Of course Odin was not their father, strictly speaking, but if he started quibbling that point with Thor now, they'd never settle anything.

"But…"

"Think about it. If Father could have children, why has he not? It undermines his fitness to be king. With both of us being adopted in, even if no one knew of it, it would make sense for Father to want a child – an heir – of his body. But he has none. He probably found us after the victory over Jotunheim. An Aesir adoption, no matter how clandestine, has the chance of being traced. If he knew he could sire no children, two Jotun babes – untraceable, never to be missed – would have been an almost-perfect answer."

"Almost?"

Loki's mouth twisted into something between a rictus grin and a grimace. "Except in the event our heritage was discovered. In which case..."

Thor would never be Loki's equal intellectually, but that didn't mean he was stupid. "Father would lose the support of the warrior houses. He would be disgraced, exiled at best."

"And who inherits then?"

Thor looked at him, blue face frowning as he worked through it. "Mother-no, she had to have known, they would never allow an accomplice like that the throne. We have no direct uncles, only a few distant cousins, all with an equal claim, mother's family has no immediate candidate…"

"Civil war," Loki murmured, confirming what Thor sought not to say.

Thor shuddered and leaned forward, resting his forehead against his brother's. Eyes closed, Thor let the gravity of the situation settle within him. "Asgard would tear itself apart."

Loki said nothing, giving Thor the silence he needed.

The golden prince of Asgard opened red Jotun eyes, defeat and acceptance settling there. "And if we die, even if our true heritage never comes to light, if Father can have no other children…"

"Father is old, ready to pass on the crown. While having no heir wouldn't be as immediately damaging as revealing what we are, it would create tension within Asgard and possibly destabilize Father's authority."

Thor nodded reluctantly. "We must find a way back to Asgard."

"And we _must _keep our heritage secret. None may ever know of it."

"Thor, Fandral is-" Sif's relieved voice hiccupped to a stop.

Thor sat, frozen, as Sif's alarmed gaze took in damning blue skin.

Loki spun around, summoning an illusory double of himself that made to tackle Sif as she turned to run back out. Without time to think, Sif dodged back instinctively from the lunging figure, giving Loki time to catch her around the waist, trapping one arm against her side.

Sif froze, head tilted back and held still in concession to Loki's glowing dagger at her throat. She had one arm free, but she didn't think for a second that Loki's tense alertness would let her make use of it.

"Loki, put that away," Thor ordered.

"Why, so that she can announce this to the others?"

"She is our friend, now you will put away your weapon," Thor demanded, pulling himself upright. There was arrogant steel in his voice, and Loki thought Sif's intrusion was almost worth its return.

"On your head be it," Loki allowed after a tense moment, letting Sif slip from his hold.

Hand to her throat, Sif glanced from Loki to Thor and back. "What trickery is this?"

Loki opened his mouth to lie, then stopped. If he'd played Thor's appearance off as a trick and an illusion from the start, it might have been different, but now only the truth, dangerous and monstrous, would do, for Sif was one of the few people who could sometimes spot when he was lying, if not what he was lying about. Loki cursed himself for being too rattled to think straight, but what was done was done.

"Nothing of Loki's doing. Nothing so benign," Thor said bitterly and averted his eyes, an unheard of show of weakness, "But my brother has a theory."

Loki was loath to bring anyone else in on the secret, but it looked unavoidable, so he ordered his thoughts and prepared to relate the events of the day in all their horrific glory. This was shaping up to be a most spectacular day, he reflected sourly, right up there with Ragnarok.


	2. Chapter 2

AN: Odin's speech is pretty much straight from the movie.

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><p>Blues Brothers Ch 2<p>

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><p>The night stretched, vast and endless, stars flung on velvet black like scatterings of ice. Below lay the desert floor, dark mountains circling the flat, scrubby land. The air was warm and still, heralding high summer.<p>

A van stood in the middle of the flat sprawl of desert scrub, three people arguing stridently within.

High overhead and behind the van, clouds started to gather. Brightening, the roil of clouds began throwing off a soft kaleidoscope of colour.

Shouts and exclamations from the van carried only faintly in the night as the van raced towards the swirling clouds, dust kicking up high behind it.

Shrieking winds twisted down from the clouds, licking up dust into a haze of grit on the desert floor. Like a wall of lightning, a column of searing brilliance punched through the clouds, there and gone in a heartbeat.

Now swerving erratically, the van lurched into the heart of the dust cloud. Someone screamed. There was a yell and a dull thud.

The van's engine died, and there was only silence.

* * *

><p>He didn't know which was more dangerous, Loki reflected as a little more feeling leeched from his hands; being trapped in the frozen mountains of Jotunheim, or the knowledge of his and Thor's true heritage in Sif's hands. Loki had easily picked out the conflicted disgust she'd been trying to smooth from her features. At least she'd agreed to keep it secret for now, and her warrior's honour would demand that she keep her word. Back in Asgard though… but that was for later.<p>

Wrenching his mind back to the present, Loki pressed himself to the frozen rock, listening intently. Fandral breathed quietly next to him. The whirling snow made it all but impossible to see where they were going, but somehow Hogun kept them on track, charting their way up the huge boulders back to the Bifrost site. No trace of the Jotuns yet.

Except for the snowstorm, it was eerily silent. Loki looked around, straining to see. He twitched when Hogun tapped him on his forearm, motioning to move forward.

With Fandral badly injured, they'd decided to count on stealth rather than brute force. Hogun, Loki, and Fandral went one way, Sif, Thor, and Volstagg another. That left Sif's group fighter-heavy, but they'd reasoned that Loki's magic and Hogun's stealth would be more likely to reach the Bifrost site without incident, and so the wounded Fandral went with them.

Loki nodded at Hogun and helped the wounded blond up the sharp incline. They were almost there. Loki's nerves twisted tighter, his back itching where imagined enemy eyes tracked their progress.

The Jotun beast's body had been left where it fell. Now, almost a day later, it was frozen solid and obscured by streaks of snow - only the gaping maw identified it for their small band. This was it. The three of them hunkered down, waiting for the others.

Sif was a decent tracker, better than Thor or Volstagg, and so it had fallen to her to lead the second group. Hogun was still the best though, and Loki was not surprised that they'd arrived first, even with Fandral to escort.

Shouts rang out nearby, distorted by the blowing wind. Weapons sang and Jotuns roared. Damn. "Stay here, I'll bring them to us," Loki ordered. Hogun looked conflicted, but nodded. They had to be quick. If the Jotuns massed in force, Heimdall wouldn't open the Bifrost, and Loki didn't know if they'd survive to try again. "And call Heimdall!" Loki yelled back as he ran into the whirling snow.

There! Loki felt a Mjolnir-spawned tremor vibrating through the rocks underfoot, saw Sif's flashing blades just ahead. Locating the attacking Jotuns, he picked them off one by one with glowing daggers of light, striking them from behind. Not the most honorable behavior, but this was a battle for survival, not honour.

The wind slackened for a moment, affording Loki an open glance over the snowy plain. Even dark as this world was, the wave of approaching Jotuns was only too clear. Loki was hit by the realization that, but for Odin's magic, he would be one of those barbaric monstrosities. He choked back bile and refused to let it overwhelm him. "Thor, hurry!" he yelled, sending two more monsters dead to the ground as Thor caved in a third one's skull and Sif's blades licked out to decapitate the last. "This way!"

"Heimdall!" Hogun was yelling as Loki approached at a dead run, the others short on his heels. "Heimdall, open the bridge!"

Nothing. Damnit, no, not again.

"Heimdall!" Thor thundered, turning even as he skidded to a stop, Mjolnir raised. Shoulder to shoulder the five of them stood where they'd entered Jotunheim, Fandral crouched behind them, staring down an army of oncoming Jotuns.

The Jotuns were almost upon them. "Heimdall!" The Bifrost remained closed.

The Jotuns yelled, a note of triumph in their bellows. They knew whom they faced, and they'd pour out their lives like water to take down the princes of Asgard.

Their small band yelled back in defiance, weapons ready.

The Bifrost exploded open behind them, sending Fandral sideways into Hogun and Loki nearly to his knees. Odin, in full armour and astride Sleipnir, rose up behind them, radiant in the light of the Bifrost.

"Father!" Thor cried, and Loki almost echoed his brother, relief like a physical force within him.

"Silence!" Odin hissed, otherwise ignoring them in favour of gazing out over the gathering of Jotuns.

One Jotun rose on a living pillar of ice until he was even with Odin. "Allfather," the Jotun said mockingly, giving Odin a contemptuous look. "You look… weary."

"Laufey," Odin replied, grim and stern, and Loki's heart sank. He'd been serious when he'd told Thor that Odin was old, but now he _saw_it, more clearly than he ever had before. Odin was still strong in mind and body, but the Allfather was tired, dangerously so.

Loki watched Odin and Laufey talk, dread pooling in his stomach as Laufey controlled the conversation. Where was the bluster, the anger that should have been pouring from Father? He must at least be ready to string up Thor (and probably Loki, too) by his innards. But Loki saw no sign of it. Instead Father spoke of peace, and Loki knew that the Jotuns understood it as weakness.

Laufey spoke not of peace, but of war. Loki felt himself go cold. War. No, surely Father would find some way to avert-

"So be it," Odin said flatly. The ice-dagger Laufey raised was almost expected, but a blast of Odin's power sent Laufey tumbling away, taking his ice with him.

Loki felt the Bifrost yank at him, pulling him from Jotunheim to Asgard in an instant. Odin's furious gaze was already turned on them as they rematerialized in the Bifrost chamber. _Where was your anger when we needed it,_Loki raged silently, head spinning with shock and dismay.

"Get him to the healing chambers," Odin snarled, dismissing Fandral, then yanked Heimdall's sword out of its place and flung it not-quite point-first at the gatekeeper, who retreated discreetly.

Sif and the Warriors scurried off as quickly as possible, deeming speed the better part of valor. Feeling Odin's wrath like fire as the Allfather rounded on them, Loki wanted nothing more than to join them, but this was not the time to leave his volatile brother to his temper.

Of course, things were never that easy. Loki's attempt to interject some reason into the brewing argument about diplomacy vs. battle was quickly shut down by Odin, and Thor continued to escalate.

"We should gather the warriors, go in with full force, take the fight to them!" Thor insisted, agitating for a preemptive strike.

Loki felt something hot and dangerous well up from deep inside him, shattering his façade of calm in a heartbeat. "I agree."

"What?" Odin demanded, rounding on Loki.

"Laufey all but declared war, or were you too tired to hear that?" Loki spat, horrified at what was coming out of his mouth but unable to stop himself. "It doesn't matter how much you speak of peace," he plowed on, "they do not want it."

"Exactly! The Jotuns are spoiling for a fight, I say we give it to them!"

"This is pride and bloodlust speaking," Odin replied hotly.

"It is common sense!" Loki knew Odin was right, he just didn't care.

"You do not speak as kings but as petulant boys!" Odin bellowed.

"At least we are not fools and cowards!" Thor roared back, red faced.

The faint roar of the water was loud in the sudden, ringing silence, all three of them shocked into stillness as Thor's insult registered.

Odin bowed his head, but Loki's bitter rage had subsided, giving way to alarm. "Perhaps I was," Odin said grimly, voice gone pained and regretful. "A fool, to think either of you were ready."

"Thor Odinson, Loki Odinson, Princes of Asgard."

Loki tried to find something to say, but instead could only stand by his brother, silent in the face of Odin's judgement.

"You have betrayed the express command of your king. Through your arrogance and stupidity, you have opened these peaceful realms and innocent lives to the horror and desolation of war," Odin said resolutely, the disappointment in his eye pressing upon Loki as if Mjolnir itself had been laid on his chest.

Odin drove his spear, Gungnir, into place, activating the Biforst, and Loki felt the breath leave him as lightning arched overhead and the Bifrost hummed around them.

"You are both unworthy of the trust placed in you, of these realms, and of your titles. I now take from you both your power!" Mjolnir flew to Odin's hand as Thor looked on helplessly, and Loki almost doubled over as he felt his magic scream within him. "In the name of my father, and his father before him, I, Odin Allfather, cast you out!"

Loki could see the blast coming, but he was frozen, unable to even think of dodging, and he felt himself flung back violently into the whirling Bifrost, catching a fleeting glimpse of Thor's horrified face before the bridge caught them and plucked them from the only home they'd ever known

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><p>Loki felt hard packed earth beneath his feet. Dust swirled in the dark around him, clogging his lungs. Light swept over him. Impact.<p>

They went down hard, Thor taking the brunt of the attack. Loki wheezed, breath knocked out of him, and clawed his way out from under his unconscious brother, disoriented and aching.

A form coalesced from the dust, and Loki automatically tried to form a dagger, but his magic was silent.

"Please don't be dead!" It was a woman, he saw, and not dressed like a warrior either. Not a danger. Probably. His head swam and he collapsed back on Thor and the warm earth, just breathing. The woman's voice sounded distant and tinny and there was a whine in his ears. The world went black.


End file.
